A hearing held by the 30 member, bi-partisan Senate committee
Thursday afternoon in Washington ended with a unanimous decision
by way of voice vote to move towards sanctioning countries coming
to the aid of the former intelligence analyst.

Snowden, 30, has been charged with espionage and other counts by
the United States for leaking classified National Security Agency
documents to the media. He has been on the run from authorities
for nearly two months and is currently in Moscow awaiting the
results of an asylum request filed with Russia’s Federal
Migration Service. Should the Kremlin come to Snowden’s aid,
however, some lawmakers in the US say the State Department should
respond with sanctions.

On Thursday, one of the leaker’s most vocal critics in Congress
succeeded in having his colleagues advance a bill that directs
the Secretary of State John Kerry “to consult with the
appropriate congressional committees on sanction options against
any country that provides asylum to Mr. Snowden, including
revocation or suspension of trade privileges and
preferences.”

The bill’s author, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), told
the committee, “I don’t know if he’s going to stay in Russia
forever. I don’t know where he’s going to go . . . But I know
this: That the right thing to do is to send him back home so he
can face charges for the crimes he’s allegedly committed.”

An indictment against Snowden was unsealed last month
while he was reportedly in hiding in Hong Kong. Just hours later,
Snowden surfaced in Moscow and has since been confined to the
transit area of the Sheremetyevo airport.

Snowden filed asylum requests with more than 20 countries, and
has been offered assistance from Bolivia, Nicaragua and
Venezuela. Earlier this week he met with his attorney at
Sheremetyevo, who then told RT that Snowden is seeking Russian’s
permission to stay in the country indefinitely.

“He’s planning to arrange his life here. He plans to get a
job. And I think that all his further decisions will be made
considering the situation he found himself in,” attorney
Anatoly Kucherena told RT.

Sen. Graham previously demanded Russia remove Snowden from the
country and suggested the US boycott the Sochi Olympics if Pres.
Vladimir Putin agrees to keep Snowden safe from the reach of
American authorities. Last month Graham called the ordeal “an
important test of the ‘reset’ in relations between our two
countries,” and said, “If our two nations are to have a
constructive relationship moving forward, Russian cooperation in
this matter is essential.”

"On multiple fronts, Russia is becoming one of the bad actors
in the world," Graham said previously. "Russia continues
to provide cover to the Iranian nuclear program and sell
sophisticated weapons to the Assad regime in Syria to butcher
tens of thousands of its own citizens. For Russia to grant
temporary asylum to Mr. Snowden on top of all this would do
serious damage to our relationship. It is past time we send a
strong message to President Putin about Russia's actions and this
resolution will help accomplish that goal."

Speaking to the Senate committee on Thursday, Graham added,
“When it comes to Russia, it's just not about Snowden.”

“They are allying with Iran, 100,000 Syrians have been killed,
they are providing weapons to Assad that are getting in the hands
of Hezbollah. And really enough's enough,” the senator said
of Russia.

Since Snowden surfaced at Sheremetyevo, the Obama administration
has made repeated demands for Russia to honor their extradition
request. White House press secretary Jay Carney said earlier this
week that officials on both side of the pond remain engaged in
discussion, and refused to comment on allegations that Pres.
Obama might postpone a trip to Moscow scheduled for later this
year.

Should the full Senate advance Sen. Graham’s measure further,
Sec. Kerry could be asked to intervene in the matter. Imposing a
sanction against a country for refusing to extradite a US citizen
could set an extraordinary precedent, though, as such embargoes
are currently reserved for nations accused of arguably more
heinous behavior. Among the countries currently sanctioned by the
US are Belarus, Burma, ​Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North
Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe.

That isn’t to say Russia hasn’t been hit with sanctions from
Uncle Sam as of late. Earlier this year US officials passed the
Magnitsky law, in turn imposing financial and visa sanctions on
certain Russian officials involved in the case of Sergei Magnitsky.